Asia Sports Weekly News Bulletin – ISSUE 51 Week of 9 February 2026
(1) Red Bull faced ‘evolving beast’ challenge in rare new F1 project
Ben Hodgkinson calls building Red Bull’s in-house engine division from scratch a constantly evolving beast for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
(2) Eileen Gu says she’s skiing with ‘weight of 2 countries on my shoulders’ after slopestyle silver
Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud won gold in women’s slopestyle at the Winter Olympics in Livigno with a historic nose butter double cork 1260 trick, scoring 86.96 to defend her Beijing title and beat Eileen Gu by 0.38 points for silver.
(3) Hong Kong swimming star Siobhan Haughey makes record-breaking start to Asian Games year
Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey won double gold at Dubai Swimming Championships with a 50m freestyle meet record and near-personal best 200m time, gearing up for the Asian Games.
(4) South Korea avert boycott of Asian Cup as FIFPro urges better conditions for women players
FIFPro urged better conditions for Asian women footballers ahead of the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, citing its US$82.4 million potential, while South Korea resolved issues by naming a 26-player squad with business-class travel perks and opening against Iran on 2 March.
(1) Red Bull faced ‘evolving beast’ challenge in rare new F1 project
(Photo Credit: Redbull)
Red Bull Powertrains technical director Ben Hodgkinson describes building the company’s engine division from nothing as a constantly evolving beast. The project started in 2022 to supply Red Bull’s own power unit for the 2026 Formula 1 season. It began with just five people in a small office before factories were built. The team quickly grew to 700 staff, adding 20 or more people each month. In the early days, one person often designed parts, ordered them, and built them too. Roles changed every week as the company expanded.
Hodgkinson loved the blank slate chance to custom build everything for the 2026 rules and gain an advantage. He focused on creating Red Bull culture while blending skills from experts hired from rival teams. This mix brought cognitive diversity and sped up innovation. Bold projects like this draw risk taking people who fit Red Bull perfectly. Cautious types stay away, which helps the fast pace.
The past four years have been intense but exciting as the team settled in and extracted the best from all talent. Red Bull is the first non manufacturer team in over 20 years to make its own engine. Hodgkinson says the full challenge of starting from scratch took time to sink in, but it built a strong base for the grid.
News Source: https://racingnews365.com/red-bull-faced-evolving-beast-challenge-in-rare-new-f1-project
(2) Eileen Gu says she’s skiing with ‘weight of 2 countries on my shoulders’ after slopestyle silver
(Photo Credit: Reuters)
Mathilde Gremaud from Switzerland won gold in the women’s slopestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics in Livigno. She defended her title from Beijing with a score of 86.96. She landed a nose butter double cork 1260, the first woman ever to do that trick perfectly at the Olympics. This beat Eileen Gu by just 0.38 points. Gu took silver with her best run of 86.58. Gu fell on the rails during her last run. She had the same problem in qualifying. Canada’s Megan Oldham got bronze with 76.46. She beat Britain’s Kirsty Muir by a tiny margin after Muir crashed.
Eileen Gu feels pressure from representing China, even though she was born in America. People often question her passport choice. Still, she loves skiing and won her fourth Olympic medal. She has more events ahead: big air and halfpipe, where she is the defending champion. Gu said she skis with “the weight of two countries on my shoulders.” But she stays motivated and happy with the sport. Gremaud, who turned 26 the day before, said this was her best run ever. She has beaten Gu by small margins twice now: 0.33 points in 2022 and 0.38 in 2026. Gremaud also has a silver from 2018 slopestyle and a bronze from 2022 big air.
Slopestyle means skiers do tricks on three rails and three jumps. Judges score for difficulty and how well they do it. Only the best jump score counts. Gu said her last run had speed and angle issues. She plans to learn from it for her next events. Gu thinks if they raced 10 times, each would win some. Gremaud wanted to prove what she could do, not just defend her gold. Gu sees the Olympics as a guide to improve her training.
News Source: https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3342139/milano-cortina-winter-olympics-hong-kong-skiers-skaters-form-citys-largest-squad-ever
(3) Hong Kong swimming star Siobhan Haughey makes record-breaking start to Asian Games year
(Photo Credit: Handout)
Hong Kong swimmer Siobhan Haughey started her Asian Games year with a record-breaking performance at the three-day Dubai Swimming Championships, which ended on Sunday. The 28-year-old won gold in the women’s 50m freestyle final on Friday, clocking 24.67 seconds to smash the meet record. She followed this up in her strongest event, the women’s 200m freestyle, where she finished first in 1:54.85, more than three seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Her 200m time came very close to her personal best of 1:53.92, showing she is in top form just six months before the Asian Games in Nagoya. As Hong Kong’s most decorated Olympic athlete, Haughey joined other Olympians at the event for an interview on handling setbacks in races. She explained her process: first take a deep breath to release negative energy, then evaluate the swim by noting one thing done well and one area for improvement. If something was out of her control, she lets it go completely and moves on.
These victories set a strong tone for her season, especially with tough competition ahead. At last summer’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, China’s Li Bingjie took silver in the 200m freestyle with a personal best of 1:54.52, finishing behind Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan. Haughey will need to stay sharp to beat rivals like Li at the Asian Games.
(4) South Korea avert boycott of Asian Cup as FIFPro urges better conditions for women players
(Photo Credit: Reuters)
FIFPro released a report calling on the Asian Football Confederation to raise professional standards for women footballers in Asia, which trail global levels. They see the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup as a “generational opportunity” to fix long-standing inequalities and better value players. Sports agency Gemba modeled the 1-21 March event generating US$82.4 million, its most profitable version. FIFPro Asia/Oceania’s Shoko Tsuji stressed setting new support benchmarks across the region.
South Korea’s KFA announced on Tuesday that it resolved the issues. They named a 26-player squad for the tournament starting 1 March in Perth, Australia. From now on, all women’s national team members get business-class seats on long flights. The KFA aims to build lasting support so players can excel with national pride.
The squad gathers at the training center Sunday and heads to Australia four days later. They face hosts Australia, Iran, and the Philippines in Group A. Coach Shin Sang-woo’s team features Ji So-yun from Chelsea, 18-year-old Casey Phair of Angel City FC, and eight overseas players like AC Milan’s Park Soo-jeong. South Korea plays Iran first on March 2 at the Gold Coast.
News Source: https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3343054/south-korea-avert-boycott-womens-asian-cup-weeks-kick
